Baby crib tray



Sept. 10, 1968 a YOUNGSON 3,400,829

BABY CRIB TRAY Filed Sept. 12, 1966 INVENTOR.

SYDNEY M. YOUNGSON United States Patent 3,400,829 BABY CRIB TRAY Sydney M. Youngson, 1235 Parker Place, San Diego, Calif. 92109 Filed Sept. 12, 1966, Ser. No. 578,558 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-86) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This baby crib tray has an upper plate for supporting articles with a channel member for fitting on the upper bar of a baby crib and having a slidable supporting member for contacting a spoke member of the baby crib.

It is well known that babies and young children who sleep in cribs generally sleep at hours irregular from their parents or other members of the family. Because of their young age, when they awake they become restless in the crib. Thus, they can either make considerable noise by crying to attract attention or they can attempt to climb out of the crib and find something entertaining; either of which disturbs other members of the family. Also such babies and young children become hungry and though they have play things in the crib, they still find it necessary to tell other members of the family that they are hungry by crying or the like. While it is possible to place various play things in the crib so that the baby or child can amuse himself upon awakening, these objects can interfere with the babys sleep. Also it is normally impractical to place any food in the babys crib that could be upset, spilled or spoiled by the baby or child during movement in his sleep. Yet there are few, if any, baby cribs that are equipped with tray surfaces or the like.

Thus, it would be advantageous to have a surface adjacent a baby crib to place diapers, pins, talcum powder and the like for immedaite use during the day. It is also advantageous to have such a tray to carry food or play things of the child rather than to have such items clutter up the crib.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved baby crib tray.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved baby crib tray that may be mounted on various size cribs.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved baby crib tray that is simple to construct, is inexpensive, is sanitary and easily cleaned, is simple to install, is rugged in construction, and is pleasing'iu appearance.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved baby crib tray that is securely attached to the crib and yet does not interfere with the internal volume of the crib itself.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved baby crib tray that may be quickly and easily moved to various positions on the baby crib and which tray in its attachment does not damage or mar the baby crib.

My invention accomplishes the foregoing objects by employing a tray that may be releasably secured to and supported by various side members of a baby crib. The side members of a baby crib are characterized by having a horizontal upper member that is supported by spaced apart spoke like members. This is the normal construction of the m-oveable side members or permanent side members on baby cribs. My invention employs a tray having a bottom member and side members. One of the side members has an integral, horizontal and outwardly extending member that projects horizontally from the upper edge of the side member and terminates with a downwardly projecting flange. The extension and flange hook over the horizontal upper member of the baby crib and the tray projects horizontally outwardly from the side of the crib.

The bottom of the tray has a longitudinal channel member that is positioned at substantially a degree angle to the side member of the crib. A triangular support having a channel member on its upper edge co-acts with the channel member attached to the underneath surface of the tray. A U-shaped member is secured to the side of the triangular support, which side is normal with the upper edge that carries the channel member. The channel member on the triangular support may be slideably moved in the channel member secured to the bottom of the tray for positioning the U-shaped member relative to the side of the crib. The tray is positioned on the horizontal upper member of the crib in a manner that the U-shaped member is in alignment with one of the spoke like crib members. Accordingly the triangular support forms a fulcrum with one edge abutting the spoke like member and the upper edge supporting the tray member. Means are provided for releasably securing the tray member and the support to the crib.

Other objects and many intended advantages of my invention will become more apparent in reading the following detailed description and examining the drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View of the underneath side of the baby crib tray of my invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side view partly in cross-section of the baby crib tray of my invention mounted on the side of a baby crib structure.

FIGURE 3 is an end view in the direction of the arrow 3 of FIGURE 1 that shows the structure of the support with parts of the remaining structure broken away.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the baby crib tray comprises a tray 20 having a bottom member 22 and side members 24 and 26 on each of the four sides of the bottom member 22. Secured to the upper edge of the side member 28 is a horizontal extension 30 that projects outwardly from the tray. The outward extension 30 terminates in a downward projecting flange 37.. It is to be noted that the horizontal extension 30 extends above the level of the side members 24 in the approximate distance illustrated in FIGURE 2. Also the flange member 32 extends downwardly a distance below the bottom member 22 of the tray 20. The flange member 32 reduces the possibility of the tray 20 being inadvertently raised and pushed or pulled off the crib member 52. The raised position of the horizontal extension 30 reduces the possible interference of wide horizontal members 52 that may have sufficient width to interfere with the positioning of the triangular support 42. The tray member 20 may be constructed of plastic or from other suitable materials in one integral unit. The tray will have rounded edges at its corners so as to not present pointed edges to persons using the tray.

A pair of channel members 38 and 39 are mounted in adjacent relationship on the bottom surface of the bottom member 22 by any known process for joining. The channel members 38 and 39 have inwardly projecting shoulders 48 that carry a coacting channel member 44 and 46 that is mounted on the upper edge of the triangular support 42. As may be seen, the channel members 44 and 46 are slidable in the supporting channel members 38 and 39 on the surfaces of shoulders 48.

The triangular support has, on its other 90 degree side, a U-shaped member 50 that is secured to the edge and is substantially normal to the channel members 44 and 46 and when assembled is normal to the bottom plate 22 of the tray 20. The distance between the sides of the U- shaped member 50 is suflicient to be able to receive any of the various size spoke like members 54 that support the horizontal upper member 52 in baby cribs. The longitudinal U-shaped member 50 has a pair of apertures 56 for receiving lines 58 for releasably tying the member 50 to the spoke like member 54. Likewise the downwardly projecting flange member 32 has apertures 34 with lines 36 for similarly securing the tray 20 to the horizontal upper member 52 or to spoke like members 54 that may be adjacent the lines 36. A wing type screw member 40 is threaded through the channel member 38 and makes friction contact with the channel member 44 for holding the channel members 44 and 46 at a desired position in the supporting channel members 38 and 39.

In operation, the channel members 44 and 46 are slideably positioned in the supporting channel members 33 and 39. The horizontal extension 30 and the downward flange 32 are hooked over the horizontal upper member 52 of a baby crib and slideably moved along the member 52 until the U-shaped member 50 is adjacent a supporting spoke like member 54. The support member 42 is then slideably positioned so that the spoke like member 54 is in the U-shaped member 50. Wing screw 40 is then tightened to secure the support member 42 and the tray 20 in the given position. Tie members 36 and 58 are then tied to respective adjacent members of the baby crib to hold the baby crib tray in position. The baby crib tray may be removed or moved to other positions on the baby scrib by merely untieing lines 36 and 58, loosening Wing bolt 40 and removing the baby crib tray in the reverse of the manner previously described.

The baby tray of my invention may thus be quickly and easily disassembled for washing or the like. It has a strong structure though simple in construction and is able to carry articles having considerable weight.

While many features and applications of my invention have been disclosed in the specific embodiment, it should be recognized that other possible adaptations and uses of my invention are possible by those skilled in the art and I wish only to be limited in my invention to that specifically described in the following claims.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim:

1. A tray for being releasably secured to and supported by a side member of a baby crib which side member has a horizontal upper member that is supported by spaced apart spoke like members comprising:

a tray having a bottom member and side members,

one of said side members having an integral horizontal extension projecting outwardly from the upper edge and terminating with a downwardly projecting flange for fitting over and resting on said horizontal upper member,

a first pair of adjacent channel members being secured to the under surface of the bottom member,

a support having second channel members on its upper edge for movably coacting with said first channel members,

said support having a U-shaped means on an edge normal with said upper edge for coacting with said spoke member and forming a support for said tray,

said first pair of channel members are aligned to a normal angle to said horizontal extension,

said second channel members fit within said first channel members and said second channel members may be slidably positioned in said first channel members to position said U-shaped means relative to said spoke member,

and releasable holding means for holding said second channel members at a given position relative to said first channel members.

2. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said support comprises a triangular member.

3. A tray as claimed in claim 2 wherein:

said flange and said U-shaped means have releasable tie means for securing said tray and support to said crib.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. 

